A new study published in the American Heart Association (AHA) journal, Circulation, shows that that the dramatic decrease in mortality from heart attack in recent decades is not evident in younger age groups, especially younger ...

Many older patients who are considered frail by medical standards receive anticoagulants (blood thinners) and undergo cardiac catheterization during a heart attack. While these treatments can be helpful, they also can cause ...

During a heart attack, the supply of oxygen to heart cells is decreased. This reduced oxygen level, called hypoxia, causes the cell's powerhouses, the mitochondria, to fragment, impairing cell function and leading to heart ...

Patients who have persistently high levels of inflammation following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for coronary artery disease are significantly more likely to die from any cause or to have a heart attack within ...

People who are bullied at work or experience violence at work are at higher risk of heart and brain blood vessel problems, including heart attacks and stroke, according to the largest prospective study to investigate the ...

Research from the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute finds that a population of people with diabetes who were switched to high-deductible health plans ...

In 2017, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association released new blood pressure guidelines, lowering hypertension threshold to 130/80 mm Hg from the previous 140/90 mm Hg. A new study predicts that ...

Vision impairment and blindness affect one in 11 Americans age 65 and older. Because our population is aging, the number of older adults with vision problems is predicted to rise. Older adults who have impaired vision may ...

A recent widely-reported study has reignited debate around whether omega-3 supplements reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. The study showed a particular form of omega-3 oil lowered the risk of people with heart disease ...

For people with coronary artery disease, the thickness of the Achilles tendon may be an indicator of the severity of their disease and how likely they are to have a heart attack, new research suggests.

Lifting weights for less than an hour a week may reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke by 40 to 70 percent, according to a new Iowa State University study. Spending more than an hour in the weight room did not yield ...

A mandatory health screen before the start of a season, to rule out heart problems associated with a heightened risk of sudden death in professional footballers, isn't a fail-safe, no matter how comprehensive it is, suggests ...

A new pharmacological agent demonstrates promising results for the prevention of a wide range of heart rhythm disorders, including both cardiac and brain injury-induced arrhythmias. Furthermore, the compound (SS-68) demonstrates ...

Myocardial infarction (MI) or acute myocardial infarction (AMI), commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die. This is most commonly due to occlusion (blockage) of a coronary artery following the rupture of a vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids (cholesterol and fatty acids) and white blood cells (especially macrophages) in the wall of an artery. The resulting ischemia (restriction in blood supply) and ensuing oxygen shortage, if left untreated for a sufficient period of time, can cause damage or death (infarction) of heart muscle tissue (myocardium).

Classical symptoms of acute myocardial infarction include sudden chest pain (typically radiating to the left arm or left side of the neck), shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, palpitations, sweating, and anxiety (often described as a sense of impending doom). Women may experience fewer typical symptoms than men, most commonly shortness of breath, weakness, a feeling of indigestion, and fatigue. Approximately one-quarter of all myocardial infarctions are "silent", that is without chest pain or other symptoms.

Among the diagnostic tests available to detect heart muscle damage are an electrocardiogram (ECG), echocardiography, cardiac MRI and various blood tests. The most often used blood markers are the creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) fraction and the troponin levels. Immediate treatment for suspected acute myocardial infarction includes oxygen, aspirin, and sublingual nitroglycerin.

Most cases of STEMI (ST elevation MI) are treated with thrombolysis or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). NSTEMI (non-ST elevation MI) should be managed with medication, although PCI is often performed during hospital admission. In people who have multiple blockages and who are relatively stable, or in a few emergency cases, bypass surgery may be an option, especially in diabetics.

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death for both men and women worldwide. Important risk factors are previous cardiovascular disease, older age, tobacco smoking, high blood levels of certain lipids (triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein) and low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, excessive alcohol consumption, the abuse of certain drugs (such as cocaine and methamphetamine), and chronic high stress levels.

Imagine your family has moved across the state or across country. You're retired, and your spouse has passed away. Lacking the social connections previous generations once found in church or fraternal organizations, it doesn't ...

Health conditions that involve inflammation run the gamut, from multiple sclerosis and lupus to arthritis, diabetes, and cancer. While inflammation can serve as a normal response to help the body deal with injury or infection, ...

Taking typical daily annoyances such as a long wait at the doctor's office or a traffic jam on the freeway in stride may help preserve brain health in older adults, while emotional reactions could contribute to declines in ...

Restoring the ability to walk following spinal cord injury requires neurons in the brain to reestablish communication pathways with neurons in the spinal cord. Mature neurons, however, are unable to regenerate their axons ...

New research from King's College London has found that MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy, causes people to cooperate better—but only with trustworthy people. In the first study to look in detail at how MDMA impacts cooperative ...

Using technology similar to the type that powers facial and speech recognition on a smartphone, researchers at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have trained a computer to analyze breast ...